Improved method of splicing railroad-rails



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL R. PRATT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN P. VERREE, WILLIAM A. MITCHELL, AND J. MARCUS RICE.

IMPROVED METHOD OF SPLICSING RAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 67,4541, dated August 6, 1867.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL R. PRATT, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester. in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Confining Splicing- Plates to Railroad-Rails, so as to compensate for expansion and contract-ion of the rails and the wear and strain of the bolts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the mode of applying springs to the splicingplates of railroad-rails, so as to compensate for contraction and expansion and the wear and the strain ofthe rails and splicing-plates on the bolts to which the springs are applied to produce a uniform gripe of all the parts of the joint.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I apply springs to splicing-plates by making a cup of a proper size to receive springs, with a washer made with extensions on opposite sides, which fit into the spaces cut out of the cups E to prevent them from turning round by the friction of the nuts, as seen in Fig. 1.

The cup is kept from turning by recessing out the plate and putting a corresponding projection on the cup to it into it, as seen in detached view, Fig. 4, or by putting an eX tension on the cups, as seen in Fig. 2, to come up and hang ou the top edge of the splicingplate, or by extendingdown onto thefoot of the rail of length enough to prevent it from turning While the nut is being' turned down to compress the springs.

With thin splicing-plates or tishingplates, as sometimes called, the cups are very useful in sustaining the springs in such a way as to prevent them from spreading outward, and thereby becoming weakened when compressed; but when the spring is in the cup it sustains it in a central position round the bolt, as the washer D is made to ill the inside of the cup, so as to be guided straight down when the nut is forced down upon it, and the washer is prevented from turning round by means of the arms on either side fitting into the openings in the cup, so the pressure must act direct, which :is very important in making a good splice-joint.

Another mode is making the plate A 011 the outside of the rail of thickness enough to allow it to be counterbored out, so as to form a cup in the plate, as seen in detached View, Fig. 3, and letter A, which will make a very compact and substantial joint, giving great strength and support to the rails joined by the splicing-plates.

Another mode is to use wood for the outside plate, as seen in Fig. 2, letters E E, with the cups for the springs attached to a plate to clasp the wooden splicing-plate, prevent it from splitting, and protect it from the action of atmospheric changes, which soon destroy them, While my improvement would compensate for the contraction and expansion of the wood, and make a uniform joint.

The splicingplate A on the inside has holes to correspond with those of the rails, made of a little larger diameter than the boltsyand with a groove longitudinally of the plate to receive the heads of the bolts or any other similar device to keep the bolts from turningaround, as seen in Fig. 4 and Fig. 3, and splicing-plate A on the outside has its corresponding holes for the bolts with its groove, or Without one, as may be desired, as seen in Fig. 2. f

The rails are prepared in the usual manner by having oblong holes made through the neck longitudinally of the rail, so that expansion and contraction can take place by slipping through the splicingplates by means of the flexible manner in which the joint is made.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The method and arrangement of joining the ends of two railroad-rails by the means of springs F, cups E, washers D, bolts B, and nuts C, in combination with two splicing plates, A A, made in the manner substantially such as described, and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. I claim the construction and arrangement of springs combined with the wooden splicingplates, as shown in Fig. 2, as and for the purposes herein set forth.

DANIEL R. PRATT.

Witnesses:

J oHN S. HoLLINGsHEAD, WM. J. FAHERTY. 

